The United States called on Monday (March 4) for a ban on drunk diplomats at budget debates at the United Nations.
"We make the modest proposal that the negotiating rooms should in future be an inebriation-free zone," Joseph Torsella, deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations for management and reform, told the General Assembly's budget committee.
"While my government is truly grateful for the strategic opportunities presented by some recent past practices, let's save the champagne for toasting the successful end of the session, and do some credit to the Fifth Committee's reputation in the process," he said.
An annual vote of the budget committee - known as the Fifth Committee - on budgetary questions tends to come at Christmas time in late December. The debates often become heated marathon sessions that run into the early hours of the morning.
Diplomats who participate sessions have told Reuters that it is not unusual to see delegates showing visible signs of being heavily inebriated.
Video Source: Reuters